China’s Jianfeng Sun is coming in with the chip lead on his second career APT final table appearance

APT JEJU 2026 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

• Master of the Zodiac: Japan's Tomoyuki Maeda Claims KRW 228.6M (~USD 179.6K) Top Prize & Championship Seat

• Mini Main Event: UK’s Ryan Plant Leads 101 Survivors Chasing KRW 176M (~USD 130.4K) Top Prize

JEJU, SOUTH KOREA, October 2, 2026 – Day 8 of the APT Jeju 2026 festival (#APTJeju2026) saw the tournament tables of LES A Casino inside the Jeju Shinhwa World resort play host to the penultimate day of the Main Event, with the 1,375-entry field reduced to the final eight.

Other marquee action saw the scintillating conclusion of the Zodiac Classic – Sponsored by Natural8, and the three opening flights of the Mini Main Event, with the tournament drawing a sizable 713-entry field.

Other side event action saw the record-breaking action in the Baby Superstar Challenge with the tournament setting a new Korean tour record for entries and prize pool. Heads up enthusiasts battled in the PL Omaha High Heads Up event, and there was also an eclectic selection of mixed games, and turbo tournaments all of which you can read more about in the side event press release.

Main Event Action

Just 47 players from the 1,375-entry field returned for the penultimate day of the KRW 2.7M (~USD 1,900) buy-in APT Main Event all guaranteed at least a KRW 9,260,000 (~USD 6,910) payout from the KRW 3,207,600,000 (~USD 2,393,730) prize pool.

Before the action got underway, the second of the five USD 10,000 (~KRW 13.4M) seats to November’s USD 5 million guaranteed APT Championship Main Event on offer in the tournament was awarded via lucky draw.

China’s Xiang Chen tied with the Netherlands’ Joris Michl after the two won a hand of Crazy Pineapple, with Chen subsequently winning the sudden death rematch to book his ticket to Taipei. The remaining three seats will be awarded to the top three finishers.

China’s Xiang Chen won an APT Championship Main Event seat via the Day 4 Lucky Draw

Day 4 action resumed with 50 minutes remaining on the clock on level 25 with blinds of 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blinds ante. Play spanned over seven and a half 60-minute levels and concluded with an exciting double elimination with 30 minutes remaining on the clock on level 32.

The short-stacked Yi Heng Luo of China was forced all-in from the small blind with Singapore’s Steve Ng limping in from under-the-gun, compatriot Kwang Chung Tan coming in from the button, and big blind Changliang Sun checking his option to take the action four way to a flop.

Tan won this final hand of the day with a flopped set of eights, sending Sun out in ninth place, with Luo exiting in tenth to set up an eight-handed final table.

With the departure of start-of-day chip leader Ma Kaihong in 19th place, there is a new sheriff in town with China’s Jianfeng Sun bringing in the chip lead with a stack of 12,060,000 – 18 big blinds more than next closest rival Steve Ng of Singapore who will be returning for the final day with 9,050,000.

Toby Joyce is making his APT Main Event final table debut

Inaugural APT Championship High Roller winner Toby Joyce (8,790,000) rounds out the top three, with the Irishman the only player with a chance to make tour history and become the first player to claim the Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy as well as an APT Championship trophy should the cards fall his way on Saturday.

Four of the eight finalists are making second career APT final table appearances, with chip leader Sun finishing runner-up to compatriot Xixang Luo in the 2024 edition of the tournament.

China’s Erdun Xu also made an appearance in that event, and has already improved on his ninth place finish of two years ago.

China’s Shuang Qiu will be hoping to improve on his third place finish the APT Jeju 2025 Main Event where Abraham Ceesvin claimed gold, while Singaporean Steve Ng is already guaranteed one better than his ninth place finish in the APT Taipei 2024 Main Event.

Top Row (L-R): Kwang Chung Tan, Toby Joyce, Steve Ng, Jianfeng Sun Bottom Row (L-R): Erdun Xu, Shuang Qiu, Jiawei Wan, Weimin Chen

MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE STACKS

For Main Event Day 4 Player List please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Results please CLICK HERE

For APT Jeju 2026 Main Event Final Table Player Profiles & Seat Draw please CLICK HERE

Outside of start-of-day chip leader Kaihong, other notables to fall before the final table included the USA’s Christian Harder (12th), the Netherlands’ Joris Michl (18th), Germany’s Piet Pape (24th), last woman standing Dieu Tu “Tracy” Dinh (31st), India’s Rishi Mehra (32nd), and Malaysia’s Sean Ooi (43rd).

The Final Day resumes at 11:15am (KST) on Saturday, October 3, with the tournament playing down to a champion.

Full tournament details are available on the Main Event Day 4 tournament page, and live reporting can be followed on the Main Event Day 4 APT Blog.

Catch up on the action via the APT Main Event Day 4 live stream on the official APT YouTube channel. The Final Day live stream (on a 30-minute delay) will be starting at the same time as the tournament action gets underway.

Master of the Zodiac: Japan's Tomoyuki Maeda Claims KRW 228.6M (~USD 179.6K) Top Prize & Championship Seat

Japan's Tomoyuki Maeda quintupled his total live winnings with a career-best result in the Zodiac Classic

Outside of the Main Event, other marquee action playing out was the thrilling final day of the KRW 3.7M (~USD 2,700) buy-in Zodiac Classic – Sponsored by Natural8, which saw 65 survivors return and fight to finish in the paying positions for a share of the KRW 1,192,406,400 (~USD 889,855) prize pool.

Ten players would be departing empty-handed, with the elimination of China’s Li Wei midway through the second 40-minute level played at the hands of compatriot Wenchao Liu guaranteeing the 55 remaining players a payday of at least KRW 5,780,000 (~USD 4,310).

It took close to a further eight levels to reach the nine-handed final table, and another five for Japan’s Tomoyuki Maeda to claim the KRW 228,656,400 (~USD 170,640) top prize, and the coveted USD 10,000 seat to November's APT Championship Main Event.

Maeda defeated Yongliang Li heads-up to deny the Chinese player a second career APT title, and earn his maiden APT title, quintupling his total live tournament winnings and earning a career-best result in the process.

Reflecting on his career-best victory, Maeda shared his thoughts (translated from Japanese): "I came here to win this, so I'm thrilled! Yeah, I only got here yesterday. Now I'm just thinking about how to bring it [the trophy] home... Now I can keep playing poker for a while. If I didn't get results, it meant I wasn't cut out for it, and I wasn't ready to accept that, so I can keep going now."

Looking ahead to his next milestone, Maeda expressed his enthusiasm at competing in November’s APT Championship Main Event:

"My goal next? Winning the [APT Championship] title, of course. I already booked my hotel and flights for Taipei! I'm incredibly excited to play in the APT Championship Main Event and can't wait to compete there."

Back (L-R): Wang Sum Li, Kento Nasu, Qingtian Qian, Chun Ting Lo, Tomoyuki Maeda

Front (L-R): Zhuoqun Zhang, Yongliang Li, Sebastian Toro, You Zeng

ZODIAC CLASSIC FINAL TABLE RESULTS

For Zodiac Classic Day Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For Zodiac Classic Results please CLICK HERE

Other notables to cash but some up short of the final table included Japan’s Ryuta Nakai (14th), Vietnam’s Huu Dung Nguyen (17th), Korea National Cup champion Lee Liew (18th), Mystery Bounty champion Daisuke Abiko (27th), German high roller Fabian Gumz (28th), the UK’s Sam Ameen (31st), APT Jeju Classic Super High Roller champion Tony Ren Lin (35th), and two-time bracelet winner Renji Mao (54th) to name but a few.

Full tournament details are available on the Zodiac Classic Final Day tournament page, and live reporting can be followed on the Zodiac Classic Final Day APT Blog.

Mini Main Event: UK’s Ryan Plant Leads 101 Survivors Chasing KRW 176M (~USD 130.4K) Top Prize

The silver lion silhouette Mini Main Event trophy awaits the eventual champion

Playing out concurrently with the Main Event, and the Zodiac Classic, and sporting an enticing the KRW 300M (~USD 221K) guarantee, the two-day KRW 1.5M (~USD 1,100) buy-in Mini Main Event saw the three Day 1 opening flights attract 713 initial entries (385 unique).

The top 14 percent of each respective flight made it through to the Final Day to compete for a share of the KRW 924,048,000 (~USD 684,480) prize pool.

A total of 101 players will be returning to duke it out for the trophy, title, and the KRW 176,038,000 (~USD 130,400) top prize, with all remaining survivors guaranteed a payout of at least KRW 2,510,000 (~USD 1,860).

For Mini Main Event Prize Pool & Payouts please CLICK HERE

Flight A

Japan’s Yuji Watanabe topped Flight A

The initial Flight A proved the more popular of the three flights drawing 305 entries who duked it out over nineteen 30-minute levels, with the 43 survivors bagging up chips ten minutes into level 20.

Japan’s Yuji Watanabe topped the Flight A leaderboard, concluding the action with a stack of 987,000 which puts him third in the counts coming into the final day.

Compatriot Tomokatsu Kumano finished a close second, finishing on 976,000 with the duo the only two Flight A players to bag over 900K in chips with China’s Yun Chao Yu (664,000) rounding out the top three.

Other notables to make it through include India’s Vinay Boob (452,000), Malaysia’s Shyh Chyn Lim (224,000), and Hong Kong’s Leo Pang (144,000).

Flight B

The UK’s Ryan Plant is returning with the Mini Main Event chip lead after topping Flight B

Flight B got underway at 4pm (KST) with 223 players piling in and duking it out over twenty two 20-minute levels.

It was Ryan Plant whose stack grew to tournament leading proportions, and the UK player will be returning in pole position for the final day with a stack of 1,300,000.

Plant was one of two players to crack the seven-figure stack milestone, with the other being Hong Kong’s Ling Kay Yip, who bagged 1,027,000 and will be returning as the second largest stack.

The USA’s Francis Anderson rounded out the top three Flight B stacks with 710,000, with 32 players making the final day. Other notable players returning on Saturaday include India’s Ankit Ahuja (242,000), and Mystery Bounty champion Daisuke Abiko (230,000).

Flight C

China’s Shu Li leads Flight C of the Mini Main Event

The third and final Turbo Flight C drew a further 185 entries, with the action playing out over twenty-one fast-paced 15-minute levels and 26 players bagging up chips for the final day.

China’s Shu Li bagged biggest, his 813,000-chip stack putting him fifth in the overall pecking order. Australia’s Loy Abdo (678,000) and APT Taipei 2024 Main Event champion Daisuke Ogita (617,000) rounded out the top three.

Other to make it through included Vietnam’s Quang Trinh Do (242,000), APT Incheon 2025 Main Event winner Stephen Pang (179,000), Korea National Cup winner Lee Liew (166,000), Hong Kong’s Hon Cheong Lee (136,000), and Denmark’s Johan Pedersen (129,000).

MINI MAIN EVENT TOP TEN STACKS

For Mini Main Event Flight A Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Flight B Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Flight B Survivors please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Flight C Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Flight C Survivors please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Final Day Draw please CLICK HERE

Full tournament details are available on the Mini Main Event tournament page. The exciting final day resumes at 11:15am (KST) with the tournament playing down to a champion.